I never thought I would like anise until I moved to Pittsburgh. Many of my friends were Italian and made the most wonderful cookies. I fell madly in love with Italian anisette cookies and could’t wait for the holidays to savor the wonderful sweet and slightly licoricey flavor. I was diagnosed celiac and left Pittsburgh around all in the same year. When Christmas came around this year I knew I had to figure out a gluten free  version of my now most favorite Christmas cookie. I had been having trouble finding anise flavoring in my local grocery stores, until one day I came across a bottle of anise emulsion at my local Ross. Emulsion and extract or anise flavoring will all work interchangeably in this recipe.

I wanted these cookies to be easy without any complicated mixing of flours. I also knew I wanted them to be soft chewy and cakey. I went to my local Walmart and looked at the gluten free flour blends that they had available. I spotted one I had never heard of before Gluten Free Cafe All Purpose Mix. I liked the fact that it contained sorghum flour which I know gives baked goods a great chew and consistency. I decided to give it a whirl. It is now my new favorite all purpose cookie flour. I created two recipes that I love so far using this flour; this recipe and a fantastic  gluten free peanut butter cookie. If you like anise then these cookies will soon be your favorite too. The flavor is strong enough that I did not feel these needed the sugary icing that the original Italian version has. They stand alone well. If you feel like icing them anyways a simple glaze made of confectioners sugar, milk, and anise can be easily made.